The Second To It All
by LaurenClaire15
Summary: After Maria stops the curse and everything goes back to a normal glory, life goes back to pretty much normal. Although a marriage for Loveday and Benjamin(Uncle) fell through, the rest is great. But what happens when greed comes back to Moonacre? What happens when a new curse forms, and only Maira and her love, Robin can save the valley? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, shut up! You think your right all the time, well, guess what? Your not! Your not ever right half the time You pigheaded Merryweather!" I hear Loveday shout, and a glass hits the wall. I'm in the library, trying to finish our story, while Uncle and Loveday are having _another _blasted fight. Ever since that day, two months ago, when I saved the valley, they've done nothing, but fight. For the first 3 weeks, it was blissful, but then Loveday did something like let in a few wild animals and Uncle lost it. Ever since then, I've been going over to the De Noir castle, where I talk to Robin, and he draws in the book, the pictures of it. It's like the book my Papa left me, but this one continues the story, of everything we did to save the valley, and how it ended, you know, the story. I've been hanging around the De Noir castle so much, they've made me a room and all. I've slept over there a lot more than I should have to, it's just Uncle and Loveday's fighting. I can't stand it, so I need to go somewhere safe, my safe zone, and that's at the Castle, with Robin. And I've been with Robin so much, his mates make fun of him, for 'Fancying' me. Yeah, right.

Yeah, the weddings been postponed... till they can be in the same room without wanting to chop off each others head.

"Oh, and your always right? No! And I may be a pigheaded Merryweather, but at least I'm not a stealing De Noir!" I hear a door slam, and hope to god it's over. But, just as I start to relax, I hear more.

"Oh, yeah? Thieving? Considering all the rotten things you've done, I'm guessing Thieving is nothing!" She shouts, and I stand up, taking the book up with me. I'll take it with me to the De Noir castle, and Robin can finish the drawings, now that I've finished the story. I start for the door, to the stables, but not before I hear this;

"Oh, please. Your family's done worst! You, and your arse of a father! All your thieves! You steal, and kill, and your kind would've killed my niece if it had gone the way they wanted! You and your merry band of fuck-twits." and with that, I take off, running in my blue dress, and my black riding boots. I could already tell I was going to be riding, I could already tell I would want to leave, one way or another.

I find my horse, Natalie, the horse given to me by Coeur, a black beauty. A little on the per-mature side, but sweet and a good stead all the same. I mount her, and take off, as fast as I can go, my blue dress flapping in the wind. I hate wearing the dresses Miss. Heliotrope gives to me, ever since I found a closet full of Loveday's dresses, from when she was my age. They are tighter, and I move more freely in them. Plus, they don't flap in the wind when I ride, and don't trip me when I run. As I ride up on the De Noir amazing castle, all fixed up thanks to the curse being lifted, I mount off my horse at the front gate. One of the men takes Natalie and carries her off to the stables. As I walk through the door, the smell of alcohol is pungent. One bad thing about this place; It always reeks of booze, and a lot of the men are constantly drunk. I walk down the hallway I know best, to where Coeur is, where I can find Robin. I walk in the throne/dining room, where their eating Lunch. I look down from the balcony, and Immediately see Robin, sitting next to Coeur, his father, who is getting fed by an obvious Dollymop. I watch as Robin leans over and says something to his father, before his father laughs and says something upsetting to Robin. Coeur looks up at me and smiles, before banging his goblet down, silencing the entire room.

"Maria! So wonderful to see you again, my dear! Have a seat!" He says, and I walk down, cooly. I walk over between Coeur and Robin, and side-hug Coeur. I play it cool, even though his touch makes my skin crawl, and the thought of what I think he must've done with Robin makes me want to decapitate him. I play it cool for Robin, and nothing else. Plus, he's fake. His smile makes me think he's up to something. He doesn't care about Robin, all he cares about is himself. At least, that's what his smile says.

"Hello, Coeur. It's lovely to see you again, as well. But, I'm afraid, I can't. I must go put on some different clothes, other than these uncomfortable things." He smiles.

"Well, alright. I'll see you before you go, then?" He asks.

"Of course." I stay in my spot as conversation starts again just as fast as it stopped. I lean over to Robin, close enough to he could hear me over the loud drunkenness of everyone else.

"See you after? I finished the story, the only thing missing are the pictures." I say, pulling back, his curly hair brushing my face, as he whispers back.

"Meet me at the tree. Then I'll put in my pictures. I've already finished them." He says, and I nod, before walking back to Loveday's old room. It's the same as ever, everything in black or red. I open the black dresser and find a red dress, perfectly my size. I put it on, it goes down just above my ankles, tight around the curves-What little curves I have- and loose around the calves and feet, so I can run. I've noticed little changes in my body, the older I get. 2 months ago, I was flat chested, but It's like ever since I saved mother nature, she's blessed me with bigger Kettle Drums than I thought I would have, as I had a tiny frame back then. But, that's changed as well. Now, I'm a tall girl, with more muscle than fat, Kettle Drums at the size of C'36, and more of strawberry blonde hair than just Auburn. Miss. Heliotrope has had to buy new dresses, the other ones are too short, too small, and just too... Posh Maria Merryweather. I'm actually as tall as Robin, and I swear, he's shrinking.

I laugh at that thought, before putting my blue dress on the red and blue bed, and walking out the door, and to the forest. The forest that used to be dangerous, is now one of my safe havens. Just as the tree, where I found the pearls, where the first Moon Princess lived is now a safe haven. The room has been restored to it's natural beauty. After the curse was lifted, everything was.

I approach the tree, and walk into the tree trunk, and into the room, where I find Robin. Laying on the clean bed, his hands behind his head, his eyes closed, and his posture relaxed. I smile. He only ever seems to be able to relax around me. His father... I swear somethings going on there. His sister... She's always fighting with Uncle. His mates... Their always teasing him, on very touchy subjects. As I close the door, I know he heard me, he just didn't move or change.

"Hello, Princess." He says, his eyes still unopened

"Hello, Robin."I say. He opens his eyes and sits up, sliding over so I have room on the bed. I pull the book from my chest, and hand it to him.

He reads it, smiling at certain parts, laughing at the funny ones, and becoming serious at ones I could not tell.

"Well, you actually did pretty good. I'm surprised you didn't turn it into a romance fantasy." He says, and I give him a questioning look. His face turns red with an embarresed blush. "Between Loveday and your uncle." He adds.

"Yeah, such a romance." I roll my eyes, and he looks at me, with a shocked expression.

"Still fighting?"

"Yep."

"Really? Are you serious? Okay, I think it's time to say; 'They gave it a shot, it didn't work, so they stopped.' Honestly, if they can't deal with each other now, how are they gonna deal when they get married?"

"I know. I'm tired of it. Hey, can I stay at Noir castle tonight?" I ask, hopeful, and Robin smiles.

"Of course. Our home is always open to the Moon Princess. And beside, father would want you here... I... want you here." He says, and I blush, before changing the subject back to the book.

"Oh, yeah. Here. I have the pictures, we just have to sew them in, and then we're done." He gives me pages of drawings. The first one, of the carriage and Digweed. The second, of Robin trying to steal the carriage. The third, of me riding my hours for the first time. The fourth, of my carrying a Serena with Robin and his mates surrounding me. The fifth, of Wrolf in dog shape, barking while I'm in the background. The sixth, Robin tied in the tree, with me with a knife in the background. The seventh, me and Robin talking. The eighth, me and Robin walking near the trees. The ninth, me in the background, being curious, with Robin held up against a tree, out of site, and with a knife to his throat. The 10th, Robin standing up to his father. The 11th, us finding the moon pearls in the tree room. The 12th, my holding the pearls, them glowing, a curious look on my face and a question look on Robins, whose in the background. The 13th, Me talking in front of the group of De Noir's and Merryweather. The 14th, me tossing the Moon Pearls back into the ocean. The 15th, me falling into the ocean, as Robin and everyone else tries to stop me. The 16th, me riding the Unicorn. And the last one, my smiling at the reader, as my story ends. Their all done as the pictures in the other book, and so I know that the person who did the other book must have been a De Noir. The drawings are all brilliant, and look almost exact, but Robin made me too pretty. Too good.

"They're perfect! My god, Robin. I didn't know you could draw this well!" I say, putting the pictures safe in the back of the book.

"Yeah, well, it's in blood. The same way riding is in yours." He smiles, and I do the same. Suddenly, his smile fades, and he starts to lean. I do the same, about to meet him half-way, before he stands up abrubtly.

"We've got to go, if we're to make it to Noir castle before sundown." He says, walking to the door, and holding it open for me. I stand up, cool, like Robin taught me, and walk out.

Was he about to kiss me? No. No way. I mean, he couldn't like me... Could he?

We walk the rest of the way in silent, and just as we're approaching Noir castle, something unexpected happens.


	2. Chapter 2

We walk past the trees so familiar to me, as the sun goes down. Just on time. We walk in silence, but just before we start up the stairs, I see the Unicorn. Every time I see the Unicorn, I always have to follow it, it only comes in dire need.

"Robin." I say, following Unicorn.

"What? Oh... We're gonna be late for dinner aren't we?" He asks, and I laugh.

"Yes, Robin. I'm afraid so." I follow. Then Unicorn starts running, into the opposite way of the castle, and we run after it. Running, for at least 20 minutes, before I stop to catch my breath. Huffing, Robin walks behind me, leaning against the other side of the tree, huffing as well.

"Whew. You call that running?" He smiles, and I smile back. We start running again, and find the unicorn next to a fence.

"We've run right out of Moonacre. Where are we, Robin?" I ask, and see a gate to the fence. The house behind is a small cottage, amazing, but still, I don't trust a place out of Moonacre, before I know it, or who lives in it.

"Nowhere. This is where that old kook lives. They said that she was in love once. No one really knows the full story, only bits and pieces." He says, still huffing from the long run.

"What are the bit's and pieces?" I ask, looking at the Unicorn.

"She fell in love, but something happened. And she got heartbroken. And bitter. Maria, we shouldn't be here. Even my father is scared to come here." He says, looking concerned.

"Aw, are you scared, Robin?" I giggle.

"No, of course not. I... I just don't want you getting hurt." He says, looking at me, very serious. It silences me.

"Well, we have to go. Old kook with a reputation or not, the Unicorn wants us here. For a reason. Not just to spread rumors." I say after a pause, but he looks skittish. "Come on." I say, taking his hand in mine. I've never been good at flirting, I always get to scared to do anything, but this, holding his hand, feels too right to be wrong. It's like a compulsion, a need.

"Okay." He smiles at me, and I smile back. We walk beyond the fence, to the cottage. It looks old, still, like a painting that hasn't been touched in ages.

I knock, still holding Robin's hand. Suddenly, the fire place coughs, and smoke starts coming out. I look up. The smoke isn't the right color. Weird.

The door opens. "Hello?" I see a beautiful young woman, with raven hair, and dark eyes. She's dressed in a beautiful gown, and suddenly, I'm aware of Robin's every move.

"Hi. I'm, um, Maria Merryweather. And this is-" I get cut off by Robin, who pulls his hand out of mine.

"Robin DeNoir." He smiles, and I get this terrible feeling in my stomach.

"Oh. Well, hello. I am Darcell Tentatrice. Or you can call me Darcey." She says, in a warm french accent.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Darcey." I say, looking at Robin. He can't take his eyes off of her.

"It's nice to meet you, too. Now, may I ask, what you are doing on my porch this morning?" She smiles a sweet smile.

"Oh, well, we were lead here, for some reason, we have yet to know. Do you know any reason why we would be sent here?" I ask her, and she smiles, a knowing smile.

"Ah. Yes, I may know. You see, my mother used to live here, she was a- well, she was a witch. I believe a lot of people in the town called her a..." She looked directly at Robin,"Kook." She smiled, as Robin blushed. "Perhaps you were sent here, to me, for some form of Magic business?" She asked, and I nod, not really knowing how to respond. "Well, then, why don't you come in?" She asks, and Robin smiles, widely, and walks in. I walk in after, she closes the door behind me. The home looks like what you would expect a witches cottage to look like. There's a fireplace made out of stone, with a caldron over it. A table, with four chairs, and a lot of jars, filled with a lot of stuff, all around the room. Although, it does look like a witches cottage, it also has a warm touch to it. A warm, womanly feeling.

"So, Maria Merryweather, Robin DeNoir, why have you come to me?" She says, sitting at the table. Robin sits, and so do I. She gets a stack of cards, and a mirror.

"I honestly don't know. I was lead here by a Unicorn. By my unicorn. I don't really know why it wanted me here." I say, and she looks up. She shuffles the cards, and puts them out, as if to pick one.

"Well, how about we find out?" I nod. "And what about you, Robin DeNoir? Why are you here?" She asks, he still hasn't taken his eyes off of her.

"I just followed the Princess. And she led me here, to you." He smiles. Why is he acting like an idiot?

"Okay then. Pick three cards, Maria Merryweather." I do, and she takes them, putting the deck aside.

"Queen, 5 of Hearts, And... A joker." She looks utterly baffled.

"What? What does that mean?" I ask.

"Well, the Queen marks that your lover is near. The one you'll spend the rest of your life with, he's near. The five of hearts shows your compassion." She pauses.

"And the Joker?" I ask.

"The Joker means I need to test something. May I have your hand?" She asks, and Maria sceptically supplies her hand. Darcey takes it, and in a swift move, takes a pin, and pricks her, taking just a drop of blood.

"Ow! What was that for?" I take my hand away, and she puts the drop of blood in the caldron. The smoke turns white, then blue, and finally red. Then it turns back to it's normal color.

"What? What does that mean?" I ask, and she looks at me.

"You. Your the one. Your the Moon Princess." She smiles, widely, almost insanely.

"Yeah, that's kind of been established a long time ago. I could've told you that." I say, and Robin snickers. Good, maybe he's returning to normal.

"Your blood, it's special. It's magical. It's powerful. Your it. Your the one I've been waiting for all these years, the one my mother was waiting for all those years before me. It's you." She smiles, and starts stalking toward me. I back pedal, almost tripping.

"What? What are you talking about?" I ask, and Robin turns to me, he looks as if he's waking up from a dream.

"Your the key. You and that blood of yours. Your the key."She walks closer and closer, until I'm pinned against a wall.

"What do you mean, Key to what?" I ask, and she grabs my arm. Then I hear a sword unhinge, and see it at Darcey's throat. Robin's holding the blade, and it finally made her stop.

"Your going to let the Princess go, or I'm gonna slice your throat open. Your choice, either way, we get out free." I look over to Robin, and he's smiling. She lets go of my arm, and I run over to Robin, who takes his sword from her throat.

"Really? You think your stupid knife is anything, against me?" Suddenly, everything is floating around, spinning around us, getting faster and faster. "I'm a witch, remember?!" She screams over the wind.

"And I'm done." He says, simply, putting the sword back on her throat, and it all stops. It all falls to the ground. "Maria, go to the door." He says, and I obey. But, just as I'm walking out the door, a sharp object flies, and snags me on my arm. I scream in surprise, and pain. I look over and see Robin pushing the sword into her throat so hard, she's started to bleed. He starts walking toward the door. Takes my hand, and whispers in my ear to run when he says to. And we do.


	3. Chapter 3

We Run, as fast as we can, out of the cottage, and even farther. We run until I have to stop. We must have gotten at least 2 miles, before I stopped. Holding my arm, blood pouring out of it. Robin turns around running to my side. He puts his hand on my back.

"Are you okay? Here, let me see." He tells me and I obey. He looks at it, and smiles.

"It's fine. Not that deep, but it is bleeding a lot, so we might want to hurry, to get it bandaged up." He says, and I frown.

"How far?"

"About half a mile." He says, and we start walking.

It's a good 20 minutes before we get to walking up the steps. I walk to the left, where I know the doctor's wing is. Knocking on the door, Robin still behind me, I smile at him. The doctor opens the door, looks at my hand and steps back, opening the door more. I walk in, and sit on the table in the middle of the room. He cuts the sleeve off my dress, seeing how it was ruined anyway, and applies bandages and supplies to make it heal quicker.

"Okay, Princess Maria, you are all done." He smiles, and I jump off the table, and walk out the door, with Robin right behind me.

"Okay, what was with all of that? I still... I don't understand any of it." I tell Robin, as we walk to my room.

"Which part?" He asks, as we step into my room.

"Why did she want my blood? Why did she freak out when she found out who I was? What... What happened to you?" I ask, and he frowns. I start getting my night clothes out, and ready for me after I shower.

"Well, with what happened to me, I honestly don't know. Everything got really foggy, and I don't understand what happened, but the minute she laid hands on you, it snapped me out of it. I don't know what was going on, but I didn't really understand what was happening, until I snapped out of it. I'm sorry, I know it must have been scary without me really being there to help." He says, and I sit down, looking up at him.

"I can take care of my self, Robin. I mean, yeah, It would've been nice if you were actually there, and yeah, I needed you. But I'm-" Robin cuts me off.

"That's not what I'm saying. I know how independent you are, Maria. Trust me, I've seen it firsthand. I'm saying I'm sorry that I wasn't there when you needed me. It must've freaked you out to see me there, but not there. The same way if would've freaked me out if our positions had been switched." He finishes, and I look down.

"Well, then, yeah. It was kind of scary to know that you were there, but you really weren't."I say, and he smiles.

"I'm here now." He walks over to where I'm sitting. I look at him and smile, shyly. He smiles back. But then slowly his smile vanishes, as he leans in. I start leaning in, and met him halfway there. We stop, half an inch away from touching. Suddenly, he fills the space in between us. He kisses me, then kisses me again. We kiss, just a pucker on the lips, until, all the innocence is taken out of it. He puts his lips on mine, and slips his tongue in between my lips. His tongue explores my mouth, and I slip my tongue in his mouth, my tongue exploring his. He puts his hand behind my head, pushing me towards him, I put my hand in his hair. My heart feels like its about to burst, with so many pleasure fireworks in my heart. My tongue feels weird, but also pleasureful. I push myself towards him, my heart still hammering. We kiss, and kiss. I pull away for a second, and then find my way back to his lips. We do this for what feels like hours, which turned out to only be an hour. We stop for a minute, to catch out breaths.

"I'm going to go take a shower, and change into my nightclothes..." I think for a moment, mustering up the courage to ask. "Would you like to sleep with me?" I ask, and he looks shocked. "No, no, not like that. Like you sleeping in my room, in my bed, nothing like that. Oh, god, I'm sorry, forget I asked." I start to turn away, but he catches my wrist.

"I'd love to share your bed." He smiles. "Let me go get changed into my nightclothes, first. I'll be back in a few minutes." He says, and pulls me in for a kiss. He kisses me, but before it gets too deep, he pulls away, walking out the door.

I go into the bathroom, and pull for the shower. I lean against the wall. And sigh. And smile. I can't stop smiling. He... He kissed me. I kissed him. Oh, my god.

After I shower, I get in some things my uncle bought for me, from the America's, called Lounge pants. He also bought a new invention called the T-shirt. Although, I don't think it's going to last, it's better than a nightgown. I walk out of the bathroom, and find Robin. He's wearing what appears to be a sort of shorts, and shirt with no sleeves. Lord, he looks amazing. He smiles at me, when I walk out of the bathroom. He sits on the bed, and I do the same.

"So... How does this work?" I ask, and he laughs.

"You've never cuddled with someone before?" He asks, sarcastically, but when I don't answer, he's smile fades. "Seriously? Wow, I'm sorry, but I assumed you'd at least had a toy when you were a child."

"Yeah, well, I didn't." I say, snapping. "I'm sorry, it's just... A touchy subject."

He nods. "I get it. It's fine. Um... How we do this... Well, lay down, like your going to go to sleep, under the covers." I obey, getting under the covers. He blows out the candle, turning the room to complete darkness. I jump a little when the sheet's go up, and he slides into the bed, his back on mine. I just lay there, unsure of what to do.

"What do I do now?" I say, and he chuckles.

"Sleep." He says, putting his body against mine, pulling me against him. He wraps his arm around me, and suddenly, I feel something I don't think I've ever felt in my life. I feel protected, safe. I lean back on my back, and in the darkness, see him look down at me. I pull myself up to his height, and kiss him. This wasn't like his good-bye kiss, no, this one truly meant something. We kissed and kissed and kissed, until we stopped. I fell asleep on his chest, with his arms around me, as if a promise to protect me. He didn't know that that promise, wasn't something he could make. Not with what was coming. Not with what was here.


	4. Chapter 4

I open my eyes, and look around. It is morning, with sunlight streaming in through the window, but Robin is gone. He must've left in the night. Or maybe it was just a dream. I shake my head, and walk to the bathroom. I go through my morning routine, and finish with getting dressed in a red dress, beautifully made, and fitted. I put on a black overcoat as well, just because it looks like it might rain. I walk out of the door, down the hall way, and into the dining room. I see Coeur, sitting at the end, and Robin at his right side.

I just don't understand men. One minute their kissing you, the next they run away before you wake up. Ugh, men.

The dining room is filled with it's regular drunkenness, with men and Dollymop's everywhere. And a seat open, on Coeur's left side. I start down the stairs, and Coeur notices me for the first time this morning.

"Maria! So good to see you again. Come, sit, eat. You can sit at my side." He calls, and the whole dining room just stops.

"...Of course, Coeur." I say, fake smiling. I sit down across from Robin, who hasn't looked me in the eye since I came into the dinning room.

"So, Maria, we saw Loveday today. Looks like the engagement isn't working out." He laughs, and everyone laughs along with him. "We could've told them that! She's moving back in, saying that 'It's over' again and again. I think that might just be the last of their love story. What do you think... Moon Princess?" He looks at me like I'm meat, making me very uncomfortable, but I know how to handle this. Be cool, Maria. Be cool.

"I believe their fighting was enough to drive any engagement to an end." I say, and he smirks, before laughing. He leans over to Robin, starting to talk. The loud drunkenness drowns out what he was saying to him.

Robin's POV

Father leans over, to where I am. I look at Maria, while she isn't looking at me. She's so beautiful. So amazing. I hate it so much, that I'm doing this to her.

"Loveday failed in all ways she could. She didn't become the true Moon Princess, and she didn't make a treaty between us and the Merryweather's through marriage. You can still be victorious, where she has failed. Maria succeeded in becoming a Moon Princess. And you can marry Maria. It's obvious she likes you, all you have to do is make her fall for you, and your done. You can cheat on her after, it doesn't matter, but first you need to marry her. Wed her and Bed her. It doesn't really matter in which order, just as long as it's done." He whispers, and I look at him. I can't believe he expects me to do it. He expects me to hurt her like that.

"Why? Why should I do that?" I ask, and he looks as if I disrespected him.

"Because. You have an in. All that power in that... Tight body." He looks at her, and it makes me want to hit him. "We could use it. She's Mother Nature's daughter. Imagine all we could do, with all the power of the person in line to be the Queen of Nature. Just do it, Robin." When I don't say anything, he takes my collar forcing me to look at him. "That's an order." He hisses, and I nod. He leans away from me, back to Maria.

"You ought to be getting home, shouldn't you, Maria?" He says, and she looks to me.

"...Yes. Thank you, Coeur. For the... Hospitality." She stands up.

"Of course. The Moon Princess is always welcomed here." He stands and hugs her. She looks incredibly uncomfortable, which makes me want to take her in my arms. "But you are not going the way home, alone. Robin... will come with you." He smirks, and I stand. Maria just plays it off, and walks out of the dinning area. I follow, out to the stables.

Back to Maria's POV

What did Coeur say to Robin that made him so incredibly uncomfortable? I just don't understand. I mount Natalie, and Robin gets on his horse, and we start riding.

The first 10 minutes was in agonizing silence.

Why won't he talk? What's going on? Speak. Come on, Robin, speak. You've never had trouble opening your mouth before, SPEAK!

After I finally had enough, I spoke.

"Okay, what's going?" I ask, frustrated.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what the hell is your problem? You won't talk, you left before I even woke up this morning, and yesterday you were actually rather sweet, what the hell is going on with you!?" I practically scream, catching him off guard. We've both stopped riding for the moment, though we're still mounted.

"Nothing- I-I-I just... I'm sorry I left this morning." He says, looking me in the eye for the first time today.

"Yeah, and? Why'd you do it?"

"Because... I don't know, I guess I got scared." He starts riding, harder now. There's a cloud starting to form, and I see it's almost about to rain.

"Scared? You, scared? Why?" I ask, bewildered.

"Because... I... I care about you, Maria. And I don't... I-I don't want to hurt you." He says, and I ride ahead. I stop right in front of his horse. Lighting's striking, and it's starting to drizzle. He's stop looking at me, and it seems he won't look at me anymore.

"Stop. You think your going to hurt me? Why would you do that?" I ask, and he dismounts his horse, he's started walking off, away from me. I dismount, and run after him. Great, now after this argument, we're gonna have to find the runaway horses.

"Robin. Robin, why would you hurt me? How?" I pull his arm, to force him to face me.

"I-I don't know, Maria! I don't know. All I know is that I'm going to screw this up, somehow. I'm going to hurt you, just like I hurt everyone I love. I screw up everything, Maria." He's panting. I can tell it took a lot out of him to say that. Oh, my god. He thinks he's gonna hurt me. He thinks I'm going to start hating him, that he's going to mess it all up.

I pull him close, putting my hand on the back of his neck. It's raining hard now, I'm getting soaked, as well as Robin.

"Now, you listen to me, Robin DeNoir... I don't care what you've done in the past, I don't care what Coeur has told you, you do not screw everything up. You won't hurt me. You won't and you know why?" I ask him, and he looks me in the eye. The rain is beating down, hard.

"Why?" He looks so vulnerable, he's so vulnerable with me.

"Because..." I pause, hoping the words will eventually come out. Then, an image comes in my mind. Of me, and Robin laughing. I've been getting to know him for at least 3 months, but I didn't even realize. I wasn't just hanging out with Robin, getting to know him, learning about him. I wasn't just being friends with him. I was falling for him.

"Because I love you." I say it, and Robin looks completely caught off guard. But, then he pushes his mouth on mine. He kisses me, hard. So hard, we start falling back, but land with my back on a tree. It hurt, but I don't care. All I see is Robin. Warm, amazing, sweet, caring Robin. The boy I love. He pushes himself as close as he can get to me, and I wrap my legs around his torso. The rain is still beating down. Kissing and kissing and kissing. I start kissing his cheek over and over, and he picks me up, walking somewhere. I pull my head back, and look around. He's walking to the Tree. Where we found the moonpearls. Getting out of the rain. We walk into the bedroom. He lays me down on the bed, kissing down my neck, going farther down and stopping at my collar bone, then going back to my lips. I'm laying flat on the bed, with Robin on top of me, and all I can think is 'Is it possible for me to get closer to him?'

I pull off his leather jacket, seeing a black shirt underneath. He's soaked, even his undershirt. I pull off his gloves, and I pull off his hat, laughing a little. I slide off his scarf with the feathers on it, and see his fully exposed neck. I kiss it, over and over. He lets out a low moan, and I smile. He pulls at my overcoat, and I pull it off. It's soaked, and I realize, so am I. Completely soaked, to the bone. I start shivering, and he frowns.

"Are you cold?" He asks me, and I nod.

"Yeah. But it's fine, I just need to get out of the wet clothes." He smiles, and I kiss him again. I start working his shirt off of his body, and he helps, finally getting it off. He's shirtless, the only thing he's wearing are his pants. He slides off my riding shoes, and socks. All our soaked clothes are going on the ground around the bed. He starts fumbling with my dress, and I laugh.

"You untie it in the back. Just pull on the string." He does, and my dress suddenly becomes to big for me. I pull it off, and I'm only in my undergarment. He laughs, and I punch him in the arm.

"What? I'm sorry, but all woman's underclothes look ridiculous. It's hilarious." He smiles, and leans towards me. I move my head, and instead he kisses my neck. I pull at his pants, and he slips them off. He's wearing undershorts, in the color of black. I kiss his neck, and he pulls at my undershirt. I blush, and turn away.

"Maria? What's wrong?" He asks.

"No one... I've never been... Intimate with someone. No ones ever seen me... naked. At least, no one I care about." He takes my face and forces me to look at him.

"Maria, your beautiful, and nothing can change my mind about that. Your amazing in every way, and I love you." He smiles reassuringly, and kisses me, pulling me back down on the bed with him. He pulls my undershirt off, and looks at me, shirtless. He places his hands right below my breast, on my rib cage, and pulls me forward, kissing me. His hands rough on my soft skin, but their the only thing rough about him right now. I put my hand on his back, pulling him forward. He pulls at my underpants, but I do the same. I'm blushing, hard.

"You first." I smile, and he grins back. He pulls off his pants, and I kiss him once again. He slips off my underwear and we're both completely naked. I start shivering again, despite being so close to Robin, who's very warm.

"Get under the covers, Maria." He says, pulling the covers over me, then getting inside himself. Kissing me everywhere, there isn't a part of my body that isn't touching Robin, and every part that's touching him has pleasure bursts. My heart is racing fast, and I love everything about this. How I'm close to him, how his hands are on me, how soft his tummy is, how he has working hands that are scarred by fighting.

He's on top of me, kissing me hard, and I feel his throbbing penis slide in between my legs. He starts thrusting, into me, kissing me, but even that doesn't distract me from the pain. It hurts, so bad. He looks at me, and stops for a second, and I feel his penis slide out from between my legs.

"Maria? Maria, what's wrong?" He holds my face, as a tear slides down.

"Nothing. I'm fine." I say, through gritted teeth.

"No, your not fine. Does it hurt?" He asks me, and I nod, slowly. "Do you want to stop?" He asks, and I shake my head.

"Keep going." I say, and kiss his lips. He reluctantly starts thrusting into me again, and its painful for the first minute, and then pain melts into pleasure.

I put my hands on his hips, where there's a V, pulling him. Telling him to thrust harder. He groans, grunting, putting his arms on the headrest above me, getting a better grip, thrusting harder, and faster. We're starting to get wet with sweat, but at least I'm not cold anymore.

"Oh, Robin..." I moan, and he leans down, kissing me, still thrusting. He takes one hand off the headrest, leaving the other on, and takes my hand in his.

Suddenly, every nerve, every feeling I have, turned to pleasure, as he cums. He falls back on the bed, next to me. I've never felt so close to Robin. We lay back, me laying on his chest, both panting, hard. I smile up at him, and he grins back, pulling me up to eye level. Looking into my eyes, until both our breathing goes back to normal.

"Maria Merryweather, I love you." He says.

"Well, Robin DeNoir. I love you, too." I smile, and he leans in and kisses me. We just lay there, talking.

"I've got to get back to Moonacre, Robin." He looks, studying me.

"Yeah, I know. I really, really don't want you to." He frowns. I stand up, and pick up the soaked clothes, starting to get dressed.

"I really, really wish I didn't have to." I finish getting dressed, and jump on the bed, on my stomach. He laughs, and I do the same, pulling myself up to lay on his chest. He puts his arms around me, pulling me closer to his body. He pulls me up to eye level, and kisses me, hard. I put my hand in his hair, and he puts his hand on my neck, pushing me towards him. He slides his tongue in my mouth, and I giggle, before pulling away.

"No, No, Robin, No. You know I can't stay. Now stop bribing me." I giggle, standing up, and he chuckles.

"If I wanted to Bribe you, I'd just get out of bed." He looks down at his package, and I laugh.

"Oh, that little thing." I laugh at his expression of surprise and hurt. He stands up, and walks over to me. I put my hand on his chest, keeping him a safe distance away.

"If you kiss me, I'll never be able to leave." He smiles, picking up his clothes, and slowly getting dressed.

"Is it still raining?" He asks, putting on his shoes, and standing up.

"Nope, but we're going to have to walk the way. Our horses ran off after... You know." I blush, and he laughs.

"'After you know'? What if I don't know?" He asks me, as we start walking out of the room.

"Were you not there?" I blush, and he chuckles.  
>"I don't know, I have this passionate memory, but I just don't know." He smiles, taking my hand. I feel protected, safe, the way I always feel around him. Little did I know that safety was as far from me as it could get.<p> 


End file.
